The True Treasure of the Pearl
by megHan5
Summary: The Black Pearl wasn't always a ship, just a powerful link to it. With secrets from the past resurfacing, can Elizabeth, Jack and Will unearth the true treasure of the Pearl? Savvy?
1. The Hat

The True Treasure of the Pearl  
  
By: pirate-princess and megHan  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the movie or the actors or the sets or the costumes or.... the monkey. Darn, Disney is no fun at all, are they? *Goes off and sulks for a while*  
  
A/N: Woohoo! First Pirates story for us! And for me.....and for her. Umm.....lets start again. Woohoo! Fist Pirates story for us! If you enjoy it, review. Please? I'll give you Johnny Depp...Okay, okay, no more bribes. Just review. : D  
  
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All that Jack could hear was his own breathing as he forced his body to go further than it ever had been forced to go before. That was all he had been able to hear for hours, not even the furious pounding of his heart could drown out the sound. He had been running for as long as he could remember, may be it had been hours, may be longer. Occasionally, he would stop to take a paranoid glance behind his injured shoulder, but the running would resume. After all, Port Royale never did take kindly to thieves.  
  
Time seemed to melt away as one step bled into another, daring him to continue. Jack tried to remember why he was straining his body to its absolute breaking point. He then felt the tough material he was clutching hard in his rough hand. Oh yes, the hat. The new hat, the stolen hat, the stupid bloody hat! For what he had been through to get this hat, Jack knew that he had better wear it until it disintegrated on top of his head and the gulls took it. He held the tri-corner leather hat flat to his chest as his legs continued to pound hard on the cobblestone, matching the striking rhythm of the rain to his own.  
  
Wherever Jack went now, the rain seemed to follow. It provided him with the perfect match to his heart, covered in storm clouds and hidden by rain. But by now, he didn't seem to mind so much. Everything had gone numb and a life of crime seemed incredibly fitting to fill the void now sitting in her place. Kat had died. She had died and that was all there was to it. She had died slowly and painfully, creating a hole Jack hadn't even felt when his mother died in the winter of his seventh year or when his father had gotten sick of it all and left him in the spring of his eighth. But they hadn't meant shit to him, unlike her. She had been everything. Jack quickly wiped away a drop of water dribbling down his face with his free hand. He told himself that it was just the rain and kept on running.  
  
As breath became shallower and lungs pained with overuse a puddle of muddy water in the street caused Jack to stop and glance. The image he saw staring back at him was something new, but something he felt was ultimately right. Beads in his matted dark hair, a red bandanna. The only things Kat had left him. Jack remembered that day with a small ache in his heart. The beach, the rocks, Kat slipped and tore her dress; her necklace broke. He had caught the beads as they fell and she gave them to him tied in a piece of her ripped skirt. As Jack brought his hand up to touch the soft fabric, a small shine on his right hand stopped it in motion. And of course, the ring. A silver ring with a circular black stone, given to her by her mother. All these things, once part of Katrina, now forever entwined in his image. He swore that they would never leave his body, ever.  
  
A new noise behind Jack started his fatigued and worn body back into motion. The rain gave an invigorating feeling as his legs flew over the streets. The only thing left to do now was to melt into Kat's memory and become the one thing she had always loved: a pirate. If only he knew how to get there.  
  
Jack slipped on a slick rock and fell flat to the street, causing his already bruised hand to bleed. He cursed under his breath. He knew that for now, all he could do was run. Just keep running until his body gave out or his mind gave up. Neither looked too likely at the moment. Jack got up and forced his legs to keep their rhythm, despite the growing pain he felt. He was ready for whatever would come his way, whatever it would be.  
  
With almost no second thought at all to the change in his surroundings, Jack ran straight into the ocean, seemingly controlled by something outside of his will power. Reflexes taking over his young body, Jack swam until he couldn't move. Not because he was weak, mind you but because something was keeping him from moving: something large and wooden. Jack felt something inside him nod in approval at his new discovery.  
  
Despite the complaining of his tired and torn muscles, Jack began to climb up the rain soaked ship until he landed flat on the deck. He looked up as two faces appeared over him in the newly introduced moonlight. Before his brain gave into the fog surrounding it, Jack heard one thing. "Welcome aboard the Black Pearl"  
  
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A piercing, throbbing drumbeat woke Jack up from his delightful rest. Oh wait, that was just his head. Jack groaned as he sat himself up against a wall, inspecting his new surroundings with mounting weariness. He looked at the floor, wood, at the wall behind him, also wood, and at the other three walls surrounding him, metal bars. 'Great, just bloody great' he thought, while cursing otherwise under his breath. The muttering from the sixteen-year-old interrupted the lively conversation of the two standing outside the cell, the two men he had seen earlier.  
  
"Well, boy." The heavier set one said, "what business have you comin' to the Pearl in the middle of the night, unexpected? The least you could do is make a descent entrance." The two laughed at seemingly their own private joke and turned back to him.  
  
"I was not lookin' for the "Pearl", I wasn't lookin' for anything. Just got lucky I guess." Jack responded, his whole body on edge and ready to fight his way out if necessary. But then, he wasn't really sure if he wanted out. Jack shoved those feelings away for later inspection at a more convenient time. Now the other, taller man turned and spoke to him.  
  
"Are ya telling me..." he started, prompting a space for the name he did not yet know. "Jack" "Alright, are ya tellin' me, Jack, that you jus' decided it would be nice to go for a little late night swim and you conveniently ran straight into this here ship and climbed on board for the heck of it?"  
  
"Yeah, that's about the whole of it." He snapped with a slight grin on his face. Jack began to notice that throughout the whole "conversation" if that's what you could call it, he had heard no other noise, save the sloshing of water against the hull. Jack took his opportunity. "But from the soun' of it, you two don' have anyone else aboard this fine ship to be helpin' ya sail." He said cautiously, stressing the word fine. "So, If I was you, I wouldn't be mindin' someone else to lend a hand."  
  
The two men looked at him skeptically, and there was a somewhat long, awkward moment before one spoke. It was the one that had first spoken to him.  
  
"Are ya daft, boy? We be pirates, if ya join the likes of us..." The man couldn't continue before Jack cut him off. "I know, tha's why I'm here.", he lied. In actuality, he had no bloody clue why he was there, but they didn't have to know that. Another long silence filled the small room as the taller one stared him in the eye.  
  
"What be your name, boy? Other than Jack, I mean." Jack stood up, walking closer to the bars of the cell and towards the two pirates. "The name's Jack Sparrow."  
  
"Well, Jack Sparrow" the man said, "ya are right. We had a bit of trouble sailing this ship into Port Royale with jus' the two of us. We could use an extra hand if you're willin'. But remember, boy, there be no turning back." He stuck his hand in through the bars in a handshake gesture. "Savvy?"  
  
Jack stared at the hand for a moment, his heart racing and mind swimming. Quickly enough, he grabbed the man's hand. "Savvy." With that word, the cell door was unlocked and swung open, allowing Jack freedom.  
  
"Now that you two know my name, I think it's only fair that I know yours." The man who had shaken his hand just seconds ago turned to face him. "I'm Bill Turner, but you can call me "Bootstrap" and this here" he said, gesturing to the shorter man "is Robert Gibbs. Everyone calls 'im Gibbs. Savvy?" "Savvy." Jack replied.  
  
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As dawn approached, lacing the cold early morning sky with orange, pink and red, Jack stood on the deck watching. The gravity of his earlier decision had hit him in full force, but it still felt like the right decision. His mind turned to part of the song Katrina had taught him one stormy night, while they were hiding from her mother. He remembered the joy and excitement in her eyes when she had spoke of pirates and Jack knew that somewhere, she was watching him with that same joy and excitement. Jack saw Kat's face in his mind smiling at him. His reverie was interrupted by a voice further back on the ship, calling his name. It was Bootstrap.  
  
"Eh! Jack! Stop your dreaming, it's time to sail." Jack took one last look at Port Royale before running off to help. Jack knew he'd be returning. Someday. Gazing off into the now blazing sun, he smiled energetically. Part of Kat's song left his lips as he stared at the ocean, his new found love. "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me."  
  
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Points to bribe at top of page. Come on, you know you want to review, please? Pretty please? Even if it's a flame, we can pretend it was something happy. Thanks again, megHan and pirate-princess. *Gets poked by a little furry finger* Oh yes, and Jack the monkey. 


	2. The Docks

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own any of 'em. None. None of the characters for me. Darn.  
  
A/N: Please review if you enjoy it. Or if you don't, it would be appreciated too.  
  
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11 years later...  
  
Despite the dark, dreary covering of fog surrounding and encompassing the docks, two brown eyes shone brightly. When many of the people standing before the ship were sorrowful, terrified or even bored at the prospect of traveling to the Caribbean on this ship, Elizabeth Swan was elated. The ten- year-old could think of nothing more exciting than leaving to a new home, an especially warmer home and she had been told that there might even be pirates! Pirates! Imagine that. Elizabeth's stomach jumped at the idea that both excited and scared her. To anyone who glanced at the girl she may have seemed nervous or grieved at having to leave her home but to someone who looked at her closely, that spark in her deep brown eyes would be unmistakable. To Elizabeth, this was an adventure of a lifetime. Looking up at the ship, she became curious of this vessel that would bring her to her new life and wanted desperately to investigate it further. Slowly and carefully, as not to be caught, Elizabeth edged towards the ship and stared down into the murky water lapping slowly at the sides of it.  
  
"Elizabeth!" she heard someone shout loudly, as strong hands grabbed her from behind, almost making her fall into the water she was so entranced by. Turning around slowly, sore that she'd been caught, Elizabeth looked up and was immediately chastised by the eyes of her father staring down at her. "Elizabeth! How many times have I told you to stay away from the water? You could have fallen in!" The small girl put her chin to her chest, hurt by the harsh rebuke her father had provided. Quickly though, she brought her head back up and stared her father straight in the eyes.  
  
"But father," she spoke sweetly, "how am I to stay away from the water if I am to be surrounded by it until we reach the Caribbean?" Although it appeared an innocent question asked by a curious child, Elizabeth knew she had hit the right button when her father sighed and began to walk away. Contented that her escape from punishment had been successful, Elizabeth sat back down on the dock and trailed her fingers in the water lightly. She began softly singing the song her mother had once taught her.  
  
"We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack drink up me hearties, yo ho! Maraud and embezzle and even high jack, drink up me hearties yo ho!" Once again, the child's mind turned to pirates. What would they be like? Would she actually meet one? Did they actually have flags with skulls and crossbones on them? Looking down into the chilling water Elizabeth almost swore that she could see the shining gold left by pirates, sunk to the bottom of the ocean along with the ship and crew never to be seen again. In her mind's eye, Elizabeth saw the skeletons clutching their treasure, surrounded by the ship that had proved their demise.  
  
The thought proved too chilling for the ten-year-old and she shivered slightly under her cloak. The cloak that her mother had made for her, out of a beautiful purple velvet for her third birthday. It had been fixed, mended and added on to many times since then, but Elizabeth still considered it her mother's work. Her mother, Amelia, had died a few weeks after Elizabeth had turned three and she had barely any memory of her save a soft kiss on the forehead before she would fall asleep every night. Elizabeth softly touched that spot on her forehead, imagining it was her mother instead of her own hand.  
  
"Mr. Gibbs, take Amelia's chest and" At the sound of her mother's name being spoken, Elizabeth turned around to see what exactly was going on. Her father was handing Mr. Gibbs, one of the crew, a small cherry wood chest with her mother's family crest carved into it. She heard her father continue what he had been saying just a moment before. "and...get rid of it. I do not care how and frankly, I do not want to know. Just see that it does not follow us to Port Royale." Elizabeth knew that her father was not being cruel when he said this. He had loved his wife, and it was evident by the pain in his eyes upon handing over something she had once touched and possessed.  
  
Clearing his head of all sentimental feelings, her father walked over to her slowly and reached down for her hand. "Elizabeth, it is time to go. Say good bye to England." Her little hand clasped strongly in his, they walked up onto the ship, and looked in awe at the last dry land they would touch for quite some time. Suddenly, the child felt nervous and scared, not like she had moments ago. Now she was not a soul seeking adventure or pirates or gold. She was just a child, wanting her mother, sad and alone. She knew that she was leaving her home and it was unlikely that she would return for a long, long time.  
  
But for now, Elizabeth resigned herself to grasping the inside of her cloak for comfort, being as her father had already left her to perform his other duties. She watched with unshed tears in her dark eyes as her home and all final memory of her mother drifted away behind them. Looking once again into the water, she did not see the gold or the dead pirates she had seen before; she only saw dark and un-welcoming water. Sniffling, she turned to face the horizon and decided to leave all that nonsense behind her. Elizabeth did not know what the future would hold, but she felt something unmistakable in the air. And as she smelled the salt breeze, Elizabeth Swan felt her heart begin to beat faster.  
  
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Hope you're liking this story, cause it's going to get a lot more interesting and the focus is going to slip to a character that doesn't often get the main story. You'll just have to wait and see won't you? 


	3. Finding the Door

Disclaimer: In no way, shape or form do I own these people. Stupid laws and copyrights. Humph!  
  
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, especially Steve. Wow! That was um....wow.  
  
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9 years later...  
  
Will watched Elizabeth sitting curled up on a chair by a large window, looking out at the night sky and the waves crashing on the beach. She had been occupying that spot for over an hour, just gazing lazily out onto the water and sitting perfectly still. Well, almost perfectly still, Will observed. He saw her playing with her ring, something she did not do often and something she never did around any one else. It had been almost six months since they had been married, but Elizabeth still wasn't used to the feeling of the ring surrounding her finger. Even one as beautiful and skillfully made as hers was.  
  
Feeling guilty about watching his wife for so long without her noticing, Will quietly walked up behind Elizabeth and kissed her cheek. Startled out of her silence, she jumped up slightly from the chair and gasped, grasping the arms of the chair. Seeing who it was that had invaded her privacy, Elizabeth calmed and smiled playfully at Will.  
  
"Mr. Turner, one would think that after our last adventure you would have learned not to sneak up on me." She said while standing up on her toes, trying to match his height. "And for that," Elizabeth continued, "there is a penalty." Will smiled back at his wife in return and put his arms around her, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Really? And what, pray tell, are you going to do?" Getting even closer to him, Elizabeth leaned up and whispered in his ear. "Well...this for starters." Their lips met as she ran her fingers through his soft black hair and they finally separated only when it became absolutely necessary. "That?" Will responded "I think I could definitely find more things to merit that kind of punishment in the future. But for now..." They kissed again, and quickly moved over to the bed lying so that Will was on top of Elizabeth. They were about to move under the sheets when a loud noise or to be more correct, several loud noises were heard from outside their front door.  
  
Will turned over and looked at the door, hearing only muttering and cursing followed by the sound of a bottle breaking and several resounding thuds. From these noises and these noises alone, Will knew who it was that had interrupted them. Getting up off the bed and buttoning up his baggy white shirt, Will sighed loudly. Elizabeth pouted and grabbed his hand as he was trying to get up, only receiving a quick glance backward in her direction.  
  
"Will, ignore it." She tried to petition him. "It's probably just some drunk who got lost finding his way back home." Will smiled and squeezed her hand before letting it go and drop to the bed. "You're right. It's Jack."  
  
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Jack was smashed. Oh, yes, excuse my language and let me elaborate. Our favorite kohl-wearing pirate CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow had decided to indulge himself in his favorite drink: rum. And now, after several hours and numerous bottles of said beverage, he had become severely inebriated. Or, as it was originally stated, Jack was smashed. Being in the drunken state that he was currently in, Jack decided that it was now time to go visit his old friends Will and Elizabeth and discuss a very important matter with them. At least, it seemed a very important matter to his highly inebriated brain. So, off he went to find Will and Elizabeth.  
  
Actually arriving at the couple's house was not that difficult of a task for Jack, however, finding the door to enter the building was. He had walked straight into the wall several different times, each time wondering why the bloody door would not stand still long enough for him to walk through it. In the process of locating the entrance Jack managed to scare off some poor mangy street cat, knock over several barrels of something strongly offending to the senses and break a perfectly good half-empty bottle of rum. The latter, he was most upset about but quickly produced another perfectly good full bottle. After walking into the wall more times than he cared to admit, Jack gave up and sat down, leaning against the wall for support of his drunken body.  
  
"Ah, Jack Sparrow just as I had guessed. Who else would manage to find my house in a severely drunken state but no be able to enter it without," Will looked Jack up and down before continuing "problems." Jack smiled and swaggered towards Will. "Tha's Captain Jack Sparrow, mate. And it wasn' me fault. Your bloody door wouldn' stop movin' long enough for me ta walk through!"  
  
Will just smiled back, shaking his head as he ushered Jack into their house. Elizabeth walked over to Will and wrapped her arms around him, taking a good look at Jack. "Glad to see you again, Jack. However I must admit that you did choose a rather bad time to visit." Elizabeth sighed and kept talking, trying not to hint to what they had been doing several moments earlier. Then again, Jack didn't ever seem to need a hint to make assumptions like that, did he? "What brings you back to Port Royal?"  
  
"Well, originally, it was ta see you two or something like that" Jack drawled. "But now, I seem ta have a more pressin' matter." Jack paused as Will and Elizabeth looked at him with curiosity. "Me ring's gone. And I needed ta know, do ye, by any chance, have it?" Jack swaggered over towards the couple and looked around the room, his eyes scanning sloppily. "Ye don' do ye?" Jack didn't even give the two a space to answer. "But, I know who does! Gibbs! He never did like me, always was jealous. I betcha he's got it!" Without any further warning, Jack grabbed Will's wrist and led him out into the warm night, both followed by Elizabeth.  
  
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With Will's help, they wound their way through the dark streets of Port Royal until they reached where Gibbs now resided. After the trouble with Barbossa and crew, the Black Pearl had gone on a raid of another town and Gibbs was shot in the leg. For a while it looked as if he was going to die but he made a miraculous recovery and now walked with a permanent limp. A pirate who can't walk well or with speed isn't much help to himself or his crew so he "retired" in Port Royal. Governor Swan, having known Mr. Gibbs previously and aware of the help he gave to his daughter, granted him 'forgiveness' under the condition that he be a "good citizen" and not cause any trouble. It seemed a rather unlikely thing to happen, but when you have saved the life of the Governor's daughter, many things suddenly become amazingly likely.  
  
Jack, being directed towards the door of the small house this time, barged in without any announcement of his presence and walked right up to Gibbs, yelling in his face. "Did ye take me ring? Ye did, didn't ye? I should have left ye sleepin' wit the pigs where I found ye las' time." Jack continued cursing and muttering under his breath as Gibbs looked at him, profoundly confused.  
  
"Yer ring? The round, black and silver one ye always wear? I didn't take it. Why would I wanta do a thing like that?" Elizabeth and Will looked back and forth, watching the whole exchange with mild confusion as to why they were there in the first place. Slowly, Elizabeth stepped around the two men and into the other corner of the room, careful to not get involved. She saw Jack step closer to Gibbs, waving his empty rum bottle around in the air and muttering unintelligible words. They next thing she heard was Gibbs. "Uh, Captain. The ring be on yer finger." Jack started with a retort but then stopped, looking at his left hand and dropping the rum bottle in the process. "It's not on me finger, ye idiot!" "Jack, yer other hand." Jack looked at his right hand, seeing his ring like he had suddenly found it. "There it is! I knew ye had it!"  
  
The empty rum bottle rolled toward Elizabeth in the corner of the room and as it hit a certain several boards, she heard a peculiar hollow sound. It seemed as if no one else had noticed, as they were on the other side of the small room talking something about model ships in empty rum bottles. The next thing she knew, Gibbs and Jack were dragging Will out to one of the small taverns occupying the city, leaving Elizabeth behind.  
  
Walking over to where she had heard the hollow sound come from, Elizabeth stomped on the floor to be sure it was the right spot. When she was positive it was the place, she pried up several of the large wooden boards and set them aside. Reaching into the empty space, her hand hit more wood: carved wood. Elizabeth reached both hands in and grasped the object, lifting it out. Bringing over a small candle and brushing off the dust, she saw something that she hadn't seen for almost ten years. There in front of her, was her mother's cherry wood chest.  
  
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